THE ATTELABUS OF HERODOTUS. 201 



cannot imagine, inasmuch as the word evidently signifies "a 

 locust." Herodotus, by whom the name is mentioned, evidently 

 takes it in this sense, as may be seen from a passage occurring 

 in his Fourth Book, chapter 172:— i: The Xasamones, a very 

 numerous people, adjoin the Auschisse westward. In the summer 

 they leave their cattle on the coast, and go up to the region of 

 Augila, in order to gather the fruit of the palm-trees, which grow 

 in great numbers and of a large size, and are all productive. 

 When they have caught locusts (atteldboi) they dry them in the 

 sun, reduce them to powder, and, sprinkling them in milk, drink 

 them." Moreover, another author describes certain insects as 

 being "locust-eyed" (attelab-ophthalmus). It is a pity that such 

 a mistake should have been made, as the word Attelabus would 

 have answered very well as a name for a genus of locusts, and a 

 suitable name for these Beetles could easily have been found. 



Aristotle also describes the habits of the Attelabus, which are 

 precisely those of the locust ; and Mouffet remarks that " a little 

 locust is said to be the mean between Locust and Bruchus ; it 

 hath such little wings that it is reputed to have none, and seems 

 rather to creep than fly ; for this cause, wheresoever it is bred, it 

 bringeth all as it were to meal or rust, by grinding and con- 

 suming. It seems to some to be of the kind of Bruchus, till the 

 wings grow forth, and then it growes into the number of the 

 locusts." From this last sentence it is tolerably clear that the 

 Attelabus was a locust in its larval or pupal state, when it has 

 the form of the perfect insect, but without wings in the former 

 state, and with undeveloped wings in the latter. The derivation 

 of the word is so uncertain that I fancy Herodotus must have 

 taken a local name and Grecized it, as he often was forced to do. 

 Some writers, however, give it a very far-fetched derivation from 

 a word which signifies " absence of wings." 



In the family of the Brenthiche we have another .example of a 

 misapplied name, the Greek word Brenthos signifying some un- 

 known water-bird of a stately carriage. However, the name has 

 so long been applied to these Weevils that the evil of retaining 

 it is infinitely less than that of exchanging it for one that is 

 more appropriate. 



In England there are no Brenthidse, and it is believed that 

 only one species exists in Europe, namely Arrhenodes coronatus. 



